AI Portfolio Acceleration for Local Government

AI Portfolio Acceleration for Local Government Turning AI ideas into investable, deliverable outcomes with cashable savings

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The Challenge Facing Councils

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Our Opportunity

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Our Commitment

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Our Structured 12 Week Co-Creation Approach

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Why this Works for Local Government

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Why Version 1

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Introduction Most councils we speak to are not short of AI ideas. They have lists of them.

What they lack is a clear, honest answer to a harder question: which of these ideas is actually worth pursuing, in what order, and how do we build the business case to back them?

That is where most AI programmes stall. Not for lack of ambition, but because moving from a list of possibilities to a portfolio of investable priorities takes structured work that most councils do not have dedicated capacity to do.

This document sets out how Version 1 helps councils do exactly that through a practical, 12-week co-creation programme that replaces uncertainty with evidence, and replaces long idea lists with a clear, sequenced plan.

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The Challenge Facing Councils Across local government, AI idea pipelines are growing. Service teams see opportunity in automating administrative tasks, improving case triage, enhancing citizen self-service, supporting frontline decision-making, and extracting insight from unstructured data.

The result, in many councils, is a long backlog of use case ideas, captured in workshops, innovation programmes, and digital strategies — with no agreed method for moving them forward.

Three structural challenges consistently emerge:

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TOO MANY IDEAS, TOO LITTLE CLARITY Use cases are often described in ten words or fewer. That’s enough to signal a problem — not enough to understand: F easibility D ata readiness C omplexity True business value O rganisational readiness

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UNCLEAR PRIORITISATION Which ideas: Are genuinely AI? re better suited to automation A or process redesign? lready overlap with in-flight A programmes? ave stakeholder backing and H data available? ill deliver the greatest impact W relative to effort?

Without structured assessment, prioritisation becomes subjective and politically influenced.

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DELIVERY BOTTLENECKS Even when strong ideas exist: B usiness cases are underdeveloped G overnance questions are unresolved echnical dependencies are T unclear F rontline buy-in is inconsistent As a result, many AI initiatives stall at the idea stage — or pilots fail to convert into production.

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The Opportunity Local councils can use AI to narrow budget gaps and raise citizen outcomes by shifting work from labour intensive “handle every contact” models to prevent, predict, and automate at scale, especially in highvolume, rules based, and text heavy processes.

Evidence from council deployments shows measurable impact in four places:

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Contact centre “AI front doors” that deflect routine enquiries and reduce waiting times (for example, 56% deflection and halved waiting times in one UK council deployment)

Planning and housing workflows where AI collapses information gathering from hours to seconds

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Frontline productivity tools that reduce documentation time in adult social care (50–60% average reduction reported in a pilot)

Predictive prevention that targets support earlier (for example, a council’s homelessness risk alerts associated with materially better outcomes and a quantified cost benefit estimate in internal analysis

AI helps bridge budget gaps by converting scarce staff capacity into higher value work: automation reduces unit costs (and backlogs) in repetitive tasks (letters, form processing, triage, call wrap), while conversational AI deflects routine demand to 24/7 selfservice without removing human channels. Predictive analytics improves demand management by spotting risk earlier (e.g., likely homelessness, missed payments, deterioration of assets), enabling targeted, lower cost interventions before crises become expensive statutory duties. Revenue protection and fraud reduction can be strengthened by risk scoring and anomaly detection that prioritise investigative effort, provided false positives are measured and human review gates remain in place.

56% _ deflection and halved waiting times in one UK council deployment

50-60% _ average reduction reported in a pilot)

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Our Commitment We help councils invest their effort in exactly the right places.

Not every use case should progress.

Not every opportunity is right for AI. Not every AI opportunity is right to build now.

Our role is to create structured clarity — before a single line of code is written.

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Our Structured 12-Week Co-Creation Approach We deliver a phased AI Portfolio Acceleration engagement designed specifically for councils with large AI idea pipelines. It moves from longlist, to prioritised shortlist, to scoped initiatives, to a production-ready roadmap.

WEEK 1-2: CLARIFY AND CURATE Kick-Off & Governance Alignment We align sponsors and stakeholders on: Objectives and success criteria Scope boundaries Governance model Stakeholder engagement approach Decision gates Output: Programme charter and governance model.

Use Case Sifting Workshop We facilitate structured review of all identified use cases, categorising them as: In Scope ut of Scope (including in-flight O programmes) Requires Further Investigation Each decision is documented to prevent duplication and future rework.

Output: Curated longlist and documented exclusion log.

AI Inspiration & Idea Generation (Optional) If use cases have not yet been identified, we run short AI inspiration sessions to demystify AI, challenge common myths, and help staff recognise practical opportunities in their day-to-day work.

Following this, we deploy a simple AI use-case crowdsourcing tool that allows staff across the organisation to submit ideas in a quick, structured, and accessible way. This rapidly builds a broad pipeline of potential use cases to feed into the sifting and prioritisation process.

Output: Expanded long list of AI opportunities sourced from across the organisation.

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WEEK 3–4: DATA-DRIVEN PRIORITISATION

WEEK 3–6: FOCUSED IDEATION

Structured Crowd-Sourcing (Validation, Not Ideation)

From Ideas to Investable Initiatives

We gather deeper insight from idea

move into structured validation. We run

owners and frontline staff to:

cross-functional ideation sessions on the

Once a prioritised shortlist is agreed, we

Validate impact and frequency

highest-priority use cases.

Surface operational pain points

These sessions:

Identify engagement signals

Explore solution approaches

Assess perceived feasibility

Identify reusable technical components

This is lightweight (typically 5-minute structured input) and designed to maintain momentum.

Value vs Complexity Mapping We synthesise insights and in dependently assess each use case across: Value potential Technical complexity Data readiness Integration dependencies Governance risk Organisational readiness Use cases are mapped on a transparent Value vs Complexity matrix.

Output: Revalidated, ranked portfolio with identified synergies and reusable components.

At this stage, some use cases may move directly into existing automation or delivery teams.

Surface constraints and dependencies est commercial, operational and T technical viability Outputs per use case: Concept sketch Early feasibility signals Indicative effort estimate Rough value hypothesis This ensures only viable candidates progress further.

Executive Alignment (REACH Framework) AI transformation fails without leadership alignment. We conduct director-level envisioning sessions using our REACH framework: Readiness Engagement Ambition Capability Horizon This ensures: Strategic alignment Clear ownership Realistic expectations Visible executive sponsorship

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Our Structured 12-Week Co-Creation Approach WEEK 6-11: TWO DELIVERY TRACKS Depending on complexity, use cases progress through one of two structured routes:

Track A: Co-Creation Discovery (Complex AI) For higher-complexity use cases involving:

Portfolio Report & Production Roadmap At the end of the 12-week programme, we consolidate all findings into a structured AI Portfolio Report.

This includes:

Human judgement

Validated business cases

Bespoke design

ROI summaries

Complex integration

Production-readiness assessment

We run structured Discovery sprints to: Deeply understand the business challenge Define KPIs and measurable success criteria Map user journeys Assess data and integration readiness Develop high-level solution architecture Produce a paper business case Output: Comprehensive Discovery Report + Proof of Concept brief. Only validated, investable use cases proceed.

Track B: Hyper-Automation Sessions (Quick Wins) For lower-complexity automation opportunities, we run hands-on half-day sessions that: Design the workflow Build and test a working prototype Demonstrate tangible value immediately Output: Live working prototype + scale/ refine/pivot recommendation.

This generates visible early success stories and builds organisational confidence.

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WEEK 12: PRODUCTION READINESS & LONG-TERM IMPACT

Governance recommendations Sequenced delivery roadmap cale / refine / defer decisions for every S assessed use case This provides councils with: Clear investment decisions Executive-level clarity Risk-managed production plan Delivery sequencing aligned to capacity Defined ownership and accountability

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AI Delivery Capability Uplift Alongside prioritisation, Version 1 can provide dedicated AI delivery capacity to implement the selected use cases.

We form hybrid squads that combine your service and digital experts with our AI architects, engineers and data specialists. This ensures solutions are grounded in operational reality while accelerating delivery.

Our approach is collaborative by design — pairing your teams with our AI experts so knowledge is transferred throughout. As we deliver tangible outcomes, we also upskill your staff in AI best practice, governance and solution design.

The result: measurable impact today, and stronger in-house AI capability for tomorrow to reduce dependency on external consultancy.

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Why this Works for Local Government Our approach is designed around the realities of councils: Limited delivery capacity Cross-directorate complexity Governance scrutiny Data quality variability Political sensitivity Change resistance

We mitigate common risks by: Introducing formal stage gates equiring business case validation R before build ddressing data and governance A early Demonstrating quick wins ctively managing stakeholder A engagement I dentifying reusable foundations to avoid fragmentation

The Outcome for Your Council After 12 weeks, you will have:

A rationalised and prioritised AI portfolio

A validated shortlist of production-ready use cases

Early demonstrable wins

Executive alignment on AI ambition

A clear next-wave investment roadmap

Confidence that you are building the right things — in the right order

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Why Version 1

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Starting the Conversation Many councils we speak to are in the same position: a long list of AI ideas and genuine uncertainty about where to begin.

We would welcome an exploratory conversation to review your current AI pipeline, assess your maturity and readiness, and identify where structured acceleration would create the greatest impact.

This is not about generating more ideas. It is about turning the right ideas into measurable outcomes that deliver the cashable savings your council needs.

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To book a discovery call, please get in touch with Gregory.Alexander@ version1.com or complete the Talk to Us form.

Gregory Alexander Business Development Director

62% _ of our AI PoCs progress to production

About Version 1 ISG has recognised Version 1 as a global leader in AI strategy, consulting, development and deployment for two consecutive years — based on independent auditing of our methodology and outcomes, including the fact that 62% of our AI PoCs progress to production (double the industry average).

government, including Lincolnshire County Council, delivering end-toend AI transformation from discovery through to measurable production impact.

We are also among a small number of organisations certified to ISO 42001 (AI Management System standard), reinforcing our commitment to Responsible AI, governance and transparency.

Version 1 is a trusted AI and automation delivery partner across local 19

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